Friday, July 30, 2010

What's Poppy Doing in Ibiza?!

I’m sure a few of you are still a little foggy on exactly what I’m doing here in Spain. So the goal of this blog is to give you a clear picture of what my work here is all about.

A major goal of 24-7 Ibiza is to meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of everyone we come into contact with.

We do most of our work in a part of Ibiza called the West End.It’s a long street that leads down to the ocean. Both sides of the street are filled with bars and strip clubs, and a few fast food type restaurants.

During the summer season at night this street is a madhouse! It’s full of people, and always super busy. Each of the places along the West End hires a person called a PR. This person basically stands outside of the front entrance and works to try to get people to come through the door. If you were to walk down the West End at about 3:00 am every few steps you’d have someone stopping you and trying to entice you into their bar with whatever the drink specials of the night are.

24-7 Ibiza has a center that’s right smack in the middle of all the madness of the West End.

During the week Monday through Friday our center is open from 4:00 to 8:00 for workers. Most of the workers here in Ibiza are British, and they come to live and work in Ibiza for the summer. We offer them free internet, we have a Wii, and we have table tennis.It’s basically a place for them to chill. During those times in the center the goal is to fulfill a bit of their practical needs while also getting the chance to chat and get to know them.

Monday through Thursday in the evenings, we go out into the West End from 12 am until 5 am, and just wait for God to lead us. That may mean approaching someone and asking if there’s anything we can pray for them about, or it could be catching up with a worker we’ve met in our center. When we’re out during the night times we split in half. So half of us are in the prayer room praying, and the other half are out in the streets.

If we see someone whose overly intoxicated and needs help, we offer it. Most times that means a ride back to their hotel. We use the 24-7 vehicle that’s lovingly called “The Vomit Van!”

There are taxi’s here on the island, but if you’re too drunk the taxi drivers won’t take you, because they’re afraid you’re going to throw up in their car! There are so many young people that get left in really vulnerable situations. Imagine being in a foreign country, you’ve somehow lost your friends, and you’re drunk. You try to get a taxi, but they won’t take you, so you just lay down on a bench hoping to sober up soon. If you fall asleep or pass out, you more than likely will get robbed, or possibly even worse. We try to keep an eye out, and help those that we can.

So far it’s been awesome, and I’ll be sharing more about specific encounters that I’ve had even in just my couple of weeks!